December 2010 North American blizzard
| Category 2 "Significant" (RSI: 3.27) | |
Visible satellite imagery of the nor'easter offshore Cape Cod at peak intensity, on the morning of December 27
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| Type |
Aleutian Low Extratropical cyclone Blizzard Nor'easter European Windstorm |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 5, 2010 |
| Dissipated | January 15, 2011 |
| Lowest pressure | 960 millibars (28 inHg) |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 36 inches (91 cm) at Brick, New Jersey |
| Damage | $60 million (2010 USD) |
| Areas affected | Alaska, Western Canada, Contiguous United States, Eastern Canada, Bermuda, Azores, Northern Europe, Russia |
| Part of the 2010–11 North American winter | |
The December 2010 North American blizzard was a major nor'easter and historic blizzard affecting the Contiguous United States and portions of Canada from December 5–29, 2010. From January 4–15, the system was known as Windstorm Benjamin in Europe. It was the first significant winter storm of the 2010–11 North American winter storm season and the fifth North American blizzard of 2010. The storm system affected the northeast megalopolis, which includes major cities such as Norfolk, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Hartford, Providence, and Boston. The storm brought between 12 and 32 inches (30 and 81 cm) of snow in many of these areas.
On December 5, an extratropical disturbance developed in the western Gulf of Alaska, along a stationary front. During the next few days, the system rapidly intensified, while channeling smaller winter storms and moisture from the Pineapple Express atmospheric river in the west coast of North America, before approaching the North American west coast itself on December 8. On December 9, a new low pressure area formed to the south of Alaska in the storm system's circulation, becoming the dominant low of the storm on December 11, when the original low pressure center dissipated over the coast of British Columbia. During the next few days, the storm system slowly looped back westward while slowly strengthening, before moving back towards the West Coast on December 13. During this time, the storm system channeled more moisture into the Pacific Northwest and other neighboring regions, triggering flooding in some areas. After stalling for a day, on December 14, the central circulation split again, with the original center of circulation intensifying and moving ashore, while the new low stalled in the northern Gulf of Alaska became the dominant low of the storm.
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